Happy Advent! Throughout the world many parishes have begun fully using the new Roman Missal with the start of the new church year yesterday. So how did it go for you?

At the parish I went to (I was away from my home church during the Thanksgiving holiday), the experience was a bit mixed. I was very excited to experience this new moment but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Turns out that the changing of the words was indeed an interesting experience with some members using the new translation (there were copies for everyone) and others just responding with the former translation. In addition some were not responding at all which is a problem no matter what translation is used! I faithfully followed the instructions in my booklet but I have to say I missed a few correct responses because the rhythm of the former translation just came so naturally! All in all, it wasn’t a big shocker. It was the community at prayer and worship.

As we proceed with the implementations of the new translation of the Roman Missal, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the last word either for the liturgy or for the Church as a whole. While I am displeased with some of the wording (some new, some which was retained), I have to remember that no translation is equal to the Word, and no translation is finally determinative of who we are, what are theology should/should not be, how we are to be in the world. The final word resides alone in Jesus the Christ. This commitment to the Word of God, along with the treasure of the Catholic faith, impels us to be people of Gospel love, of social justice, of compassion, and of prayer. And just as the beatitudes are right along side the woes in Luke’s Gospel, we must be on guard against being judgmental towards one another, against complacency, and against collusion with unjust and anti-Gospel behavior and systems. It is this commitment that must ring true in every choice of words — liturgical or otherwise.

The words that did stand out to me at yesterday’s liturgy were not those of the new or old translation but those of faith. The liturgy at the parish I went to began not with a restlessness over the new translation but with the announcement that a baby would be baptized. The welcoming and the sacrament of baptism put in bold relief what the liturgy is really about. Yes, the words are important, but a commitment to Jesus Christ in and through the community of faith is at the very top. With a few humble gestures and poignant words, in the little bundle of life of a child, we remembered who we are and whose we are.

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

Surely, I thought, this must be a joke as I read a news headline saying that the word “nun” has been dropped from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. But it’s no joke. Lisa Saunders, a mom in Ireland, discovered that the new edition of the dictionary had dropped a bunch of words. Upon closer examination, she discovered that a number of Christian-related words were dropped including, “abbey, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, and vicar” (source: Catholic News Agency).

Interestingly, some of the new words in the latest edition of the dictionary reflect cultural shifts today such as the growth of new media. The dictionary now has words such as “blog” and “MP3 player”. A clever headline in the UK, notes the shift in the dictionary: “Clergyman blasts Oxford Junior Dictionary for replacing words ‘saint’ and ‘devil’ with ‘celebrity’ and ‘vandalism’” (source: The Mail).

So how are we to communicate our faith, our very selves, to children when the words we use no longer are definable? Will kids think that if it’s not in the dictionary, it’s not a real word or that it is somehow antiquated, no longer relevant?

Sister Patty Fawkner, SGS, a “Good Sams” Sister, has written a compelling piece about the disappearance of the word “nun” from the dictionary. Although I would like to quote every word of Where has the nun gone? because it’s a good piece, I’ll just highlight one significant quote and encourage you to read the rest of the piece.

Sister Patty wonders aloud in the piece if the removal of the word “nun” and related words is trying to say “something about the diminishment, in terms of numbers and influence, of various religious congregations.” A sobering thought, indeed, but Sister Patty doesn’t leave us there. She goes on and sheds new light on the meaning of declining numbers, showing that our response as nuns need not reflect the doom and gloom that the media associates with declining numbers. She writes:

It occurred to me, then, that the very decline of religious life carries an invitation for religious to live their lives with even greater integrity. Religious life, after all, is meant to be lived on the prophetic margin of both church and society, where status – even junior dictionary status – counts for very little but where seeking God and inclusive and compassionate love are intrinsic.

And religious life makes an invaluable contribution as it witnesses to the possibility of community in a world so desperate for relationships.

Further, religious life can offer to a sex-saturated world the example of celibacy that also promotes human flourishing. I am not speaking of life-denying celibacy, but that celibacy which believes that some people love best – deeply, generously and joyously – by making Jesus Christ the very centre of their life rather than any other person or project. (Source: Sisters of the Good Samaritan website)